Speaking of European stars, Ovechkin, Semin and Bäckström are all heading over to play in the World Championship.

On paper it would make the Russian team ridiculously strong, but in real life I wonder if the egos of Ovechkin and Malkin may clash and create locker room rot? Not sure. In the recent game between Sweden and Russia the Russians played better as a team than I have seen since the Soviet days. Some pundits claimed it had to do with Malkin being so larger than life that all the others bowed to him as their leader and accepted to play in a team first fashion.

Does Ovechkin even know what that means? If he does, they're winning the gold. If he instead lives up to his reputation, he will score a bunch of fancy goals while the team disintegrates...

Meanwhile, I think Bäckström will be a great addition to an already strong Swedish team. We've had some tough luck with injuries though. Stupidly enough, you can only use 22 skaters, regardless of injuries. There are no call-ups. We've already had Fredrik Pettersson (Frölunda) fracture his wrist, Joel Lundquist (Frölunda, Henrik's brother) fracture his ocular bone, Johan Franzén (Detroit) fracture his nose and Jonathan Ericsson (Detroit) has some back issues. The last two games we've played with just 6 d-men and 11 forwards. They've solved it by having four pairs of wingers and three centres and then pair the centres with the d-men, so they've rolled three sets of 2D+C and four sets of LW+RW... New offensive combos on every shift...

Anyway, with the Addition of Hörnqvist and Bäckström we now have 13 forwards, so we can finally roll four lines. We only have six D-men though, so we can't afford any injury, unless Ericsson gets better and can play. I mean, Lundqvist and Pettersson are gone for the tournament. We're talking months of rehab, but Franzén can play if he uses a full face mask, and Ericsson is basically day-to-day. There's still a chance that he could get back to game shape before the tournament is over.

First, when you start your first thread with "here's my theory.....get rid of the europeans...they're only in it for the money." and don't offer any proof to go with your 'theory', people aren't going to take you seriously. You started out one small notch above a troll. Consider your first post as mistake and continue on.

Second, you aren't participating in the other threads. Why should we take you seriously? Spread your hockey knowledge to the rest of the site.

Third, no - we're not supposed to be civil to someone who is a borderline troll.

Great stuff cornuck..really great. When I try out a new board I like to read..oh say the board index and look for things that will assist me with my visit. Sometimes and more often than not....I learn things

Yup, watched Kovie play once live in Atlanta when we were down there for a conference and he was heads and tails above everyone on the ice. It was after Hossa left and he had an aging Kozlov to play with and that was about it.

Great all around player and watching him finally get some games in the playoffs further sheds him of any incorrect effort or desire to win assumptions.

Yup, watched Kovie play once live in Atlanta when we were down there for a conference and he was heads and tails above everyone on the ice. It was after Hossa left and he had an aging Kozlov to play with and that was about it.

Great all around player and watching him finally get some games in the playoffs further sheds him of any incorrect effort or desire to win assumptions.

This is precisely why blanket statements about 'Europeans' are nonsense. It's quite obviously a player-by-player analysis just like it is for any Canadian or American player. Overpaid floater is not a description that can only be applied to those born east of the prime meridian.